MetalMiner welcomes Henk Van Alphen, CEO of Wealth Minerals, (WML – TSX.V) a company focused on the acquisition and development of lithium projects in South America. He can be reached at: henk@wealthminerals.com. As the price of lithium has skyrocketed over 400% in the past year, the demand for lithium-ion batteries appears more intense than ever. […]
Category: Sourcing Strategies
China’s land and expand plan to source critical metals and materials globally
In 1953, China spelled out its 1st “Five-Year Plan”. The strategy involved maximizing the nation’s control over exploration, production, and exports of natural resources. Based upon all available indicators, the country seems to have succeeded in “extending” that plan around the globe. News out of China earlier this week confirmed this fact. Ecuadorean President Guillermo […]
Automotive MMI: Index drops 2% while Stellantis takes a page from the GM supplier handbook
The Automotive Monthly Metals Index (MMI) dropped by 2.5% for this month’s reading, following last month’s 3.4% decline. However, from a historical perspective, the Automotive MMI sits just off its all-time high. For nearly all of 2021, the entire automotive industry has felt pain. That pain has come in the form of high prices, lack […]
How to Adjust a Purchase Strategy in Volatile Markets
Three phrases have dominated market headlines over the past two weeks. The phrases, ‘buy on the dips’, ‘volatility’ and ‘market correction’ have traders and market watchers all abuzz. This tends to happen when a market goes a little wonky. Most recently, market pundits bantered about these phrases over the S&P 500 market selloff. All of […]
MetalMiner Spins Out as Alpha Commodities
GARY, Ind. – MetalMiner™, the leading metal market price intelligence brand and SaaS platform, providing forecasts, analysis and risk mitigation solutions for global manufacturers, has moved to newly incorporated Alpha Commodities, spinning out of parent company Azul Partners. Supply chain disruptions, lack of material availability, high prices and rampant inflation have wreaked havoc for manufacturers […]
China raises rare earth production quotas to record levels as prices surge
China has previously been cast in a sinister role with respect to restricting the production and export of critical rare earth metals, usually salts, used to produce a host of products. Those products include magnets for consumers electronics and electric cars, defense equipment and advanced ceramics. But while the country deliberately created a near monopoly […]
How much should a city trash can really cost?
Walk down just about any major city in the United States and, eventually, you’ll walk past a city-installed garbage can. Maybe you’ll see a classic black trash receptacle, with the black vertical paneling and open top. Or, maybe, you might see a trash receptacle with a top-side lid that opens and closes (like you might […]
With contracting season ahead, MetalMiner Annual Forecasting Workshop to offer look at buying strategies
The past year since the last MetalMiner Forecasting Workshop has been a turbulent one for metals markets. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, plummeting demand, plant idlings, fast-recovering demand in certain sectors, bullwhip effects, material shortages, rising prices, rising delivery premiums — on and on and on. For metals buyers, planning out metals spend — […]
This Morning in Metals: Biden administration releases 100-day supply chain review
This morning in metals news: the Biden administration today released a 250-page report detailing the findings of its 100-day supply chain review; meanwhile, the US steel capacity utilization rate ticked up to 82.3%; and, lastly, the U.S. goods and services deficit fell in April compared with the previous month. Each month, MetalMiner hosts a webinar […]
Week in Review: Copper overheating?; cobalt pilot project; MetalMiner webinars
Before we head into the weekend, let’s take a look back at the week that was and the metals storylines here on MetalMiner, including copper price developments, an upcoming MetalMiner webinar and more: The MetalMiner Best Practice Library offers a wealth of knowledge and tips to help buyers stay on top of metals markets and […]
